Age of Reason

Paine's years of study and reflection on the role of religion in society culminated with this, his final work. A coolly reasoned polemic, it influenced religious thinking throughout the world at the dawn of the 19th century, and its resonance remains undiminished by time. An attack on revealed religion from the deist point of view--embodied by Paine's credo, 'I believe in one God, and no more'--it undertakes a hitherto unheard-of approach to Bible study. Its critical and objective examination of Old and New Testaments cites numerous contradictions, as evience against literal interpretations of the text. Well articulated and eminently readable, The Age of Reason is a classic of free thought.